"ἔνθεν δὲ προτέρω πλέομεν ἀκαχήμενοι ἦτορ,
ἄσμενοι ἐκ θανάτοιο, φίλους ὀλέσαντες ἑταίρους.
Αἰαίην δ᾽ ἐς νῆσον ἀφικόμεθ᾽· ἔνθα δ᾽ ἔναιε135
Κίρκη ἐυπλόκαμος, δεινὴ θεὸς αὐδήεσσα,
αὐτοκασιγνήτη ὀλοόφρονος Αἰήταο·
ἄμφω δ᾽ ἐκγεγάτην φαεσιμβρότου Ἠελίοιο
μητρός τ᾽ ἐκ Πέρσης, τὴν Ὠκεανὸς τέκε παῖδα.
ἔνθα δ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀκτῆς νηὶ κατηγαγόμεσθα σιωπῇ140
ναύλοχον ἐς λιμένα, καί τις θεὸς ἡγεμόνευεν.
ἔνθα τότ᾽ ἐκβάντες δύο τ᾽ ἤματα καὶ δύο νύκτας
κείμεθ᾽ ὁμοῦ καμάτῳ τε καὶ ἄλγεσι θυμὸν ἔδοντες.
ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ τρίτον ἦμαρ ἐυπλόκαμος τέλεσ᾽ Ἠώς,
καὶ τότ᾽ ἐγὼν ἐμὸν ἔγχος ἑλὼν καὶ φάσγανον ὀξὺ145
καρπαλίμως παρὰ νηὸς ἀνήιον ἐς περιωπήν,
εἴ πως ἔργα ἴδοιμι βροτῶν ἐνοπήν τε πυθοίμην.
ἔστην δὲ σκοπιὴν ἐς παιπαλόεσσαν ἀνελθών,
καί μοι ἐείσατο καπνὸς ἀπὸ χθονὸς εὐρυοδείης,
Κίρκης ἐν μεγάροισι, διὰ δρυμὰ πυκνὰ καὶ ὕλην.150
μερμήριξα δ᾽ ἔπειτα κατὰ φρένα καὶ κατὰ θυμὸν
ἐλθεῖν ἠδὲ πυθέσθαι, ἐπεὶ ἴδον αἴθοπα καπνόν.
ὧδε δέ μοι φρονέοντι δοάσσατο κέρδιον εἶναι,
πρῶτ᾽ ἐλθόντ᾽ ἐπὶ νῆα θοὴν καὶ θῖνα θαλάσσης
δεῖπνον ἑταίροισιν δόμεναι προέμεν τε πυθέσθαι.155
ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ σχεδὸν ἦα κιὼν νεὸς ἀμφιελίσσης,
καὶ τότε τίς με θεῶν ὀλοφύρατο μοῦνον ἐόντα,
ὅς ῥά μοι ὑψίκερων ἔλαφον μέγαν εἰς ὁδὸν αὐτὴν
ἧκεν. ὁ μὲν ποταμόνδε κατήιεν ἐκ νομοῦ ὕλης
πιόμενος· δὴ γάρ μιν ἔχεν μένος ἠελίοιο.160
τὸν δ᾽ ἐγὼ ἐκβαίνοντα κατ᾽ ἄκνηστιν μέσα νῶτα
πλῆξα· τὸ δ᾽ ἀντικρὺ δόρυ χάλκεον ἐξεπέρησε,
κὰδ δ᾽ ἔπεσ᾽ ἐν κονίῃσι μακών, ἀπὸ δ᾽ ἔπτατο θυμός.
τῷ δ᾽ ἐγὼ ἐμβαίνων δόρυ χάλκεον ἐξ ὠτειλῆς
εἰρυσάμην· τὸ μὲν αὖθι κατακλίνας ἐπὶ γαίῃ165
εἴασ᾽· αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ σπασάμην ῥῶπάς τε λύγους τε,
πεῖσμα δ᾽, ὅσον τ᾽ ὄργυιαν, ἐυστρεφὲς ἀμφοτέρωθεν
πλεξάμενος συνέδησα πόδας δεινοῖο πελώρου,
βῆν δὲ καταλοφάδεια φέρων ἐπὶ νῆα μέλαιναν
ἔγχει ἐρειδόμενος, ἐπεὶ οὔ πως ἦεν ἐπ᾽ ὤμου170
χειρὶ φέρειν ἑτέρῃ· μάλα γὰρ μέγα θηρίον ἦεν.
κὰδ᾽ δ᾽ ἔβαλον προπάροιθε νεός, ἀνέγειρα δ᾽ ἑταίρους
μειλιχίοις ἐπέεσσι παρασταδὸν ἄνδρα ἕκαστον·
‘ὦ φίλοι, οὐ γάρ πω καταδυσόμεθ᾽ ἀχνύμενοί περ
εἰς Ἀίδαο δόμους, πρὶν μόρσιμον ἦμαρ ἐπέλθῃ·175
ἀλλ᾽ ἄγετ᾽, ὄφρ᾽ ἐν νηὶ θοῇ βρῶσίς τε πόσις τε,
μνησόμεθα βρώμης, μηδὲ τρυχώμεθα λιμῷ.’
notes
The men arrive at the Aeaean isle of the sorceress Circe. On the island, Odysseus encounters a stag, saving his men from hunger.
One of the poem’s most famous episodes begins. The opening verses touch on a rich vein of myth and folktale. Circe is the daughter of Helios and the niece of Medea (136–37), the witch who saves Jason and then eventually destroys him. The phrase δεινὴ θεὸς αὐδήεσσα, “a dread goddess who speaks” (136), is also used of Calypso (12.449), like Medea an example of dangerous female sexuality.
read full essay
The first adjective, δεινὴ, is familiar enough, meaning some thing or person inspiring not just fear or revulsion, but awe, often used of warriors or gods, suggesting some kind of transcendence. What αὐδήεσσα means in this context is less obvious. Its basic meaning, “voiced,” seems unremarkable. Surely all gods and goddesses have voices? A faint echo perhaps surfaces here, of Odysseus’s encounter with a friendly nymph as he struggles in the sea on the way to Scheria:
τὸν δὲ ἴδεν Κάδμου θυγάτηρ, καλλίσφυρος Ἰνώ,
Λευκοθέη, ἣ πρὶν μὲν ἔην βροτὸς αὐδήεσσα,
νῦν δ᾽ ἁλὸς ἐν πελάγεσσι θεῶν ἒξ ἔμμορε τιμῆς.
The daughter of Kadmos saw him, Ino with the lovely ankles,
called Leukothea, who once spoke as a mortal,
but now is honored as a goddess in the sea.
Odyssey 5.333–35
Once a “speaking mortal,” Ino has crossed the existential boundary into divinity. When Odysseus himself, with the nymph’s help, has himself crossed the same boundary but in the other direction, from the immortal, timeless island of Calypso to Scheria, he is anxious:
ὤ μοι ἐγώ, τέων αὖτε βροτῶν ἐς γαῖαν ἱκάνω;
ἦ ῥ᾽ οἵ γ᾽ ὑβρισταί τε καὶ ἄγριοι οὐδὲ δίκαιοι,
ἦε φιλόξεινοι καί σφιν νόος ἐστὶ θεουδής;
ὥς τέ με κουράων ἀμφήλυθε θῆλυς ἀυτή:
νυμφάων, αἳ ἔχουσ᾽ ὀρέων αἰπεινὰ κάρηνα
καὶ πηγὰς ποταμῶν καὶ πίσεα ποιήεντα.
ἦ νύ που ἀνθρώπων εἰμὶ σχεδὸν αὐδηέντων;
ἀλλ᾽ ἄγ᾽ ἐγὼν αὐτὸς πειρήσομαι ἠδὲ ἴδωμαι.
Oh no! What sort of people are these, whose land I’ve reached?
Are they arrogant, fierce, and lacking in justice?
Or, kind to strangers, with intelligence like the gods?
That’s the voice of girls wafting around me,
or nymphs, who haunt the steep summits of the mountains
and springs of rivers and the grassy meadows.
Am I near people who speak my language?
Come now, I’ll try to see for myself.
Odyssey 6.119–26
The phrase ἀνθρώπων ... αὐδηέντων (125) used in this context suggests that the epithet not only denotes the speaking of human language but also signals a web of associations between Calypso, Ino, and Circe, goddesses who not only speak to mortals but also mark the boundaries between human and divine.
One further parallel allows us to expand our discussion. In the wake of his friend Enkidu’s death, the Mesopotamian hero Gilgamesh sets out to discover “the secret of life and death” by crossing “the Waters of Death” to reach the Land of Dilmun, the poem’s version of the Underworld. Once there, he must question Utnapishtim, the only mortal to have achieved immortality, about how he too can escape death forever. On the edge of the sea, he encounters Siduri, a woman tavern keeper, who tries to discourage the hero from launching on his dangerous voyage:
Gilgamesh, where are you wandering?
The life that you are seeking all around you will not find.
When the gods created mankind
they fixed Death for mankind,
and held back life in their own hands.
Now you, Gilgamesh, let your body be full!
Be happy day and night,
of each day make a party,
dance in circles day and night!
Let your clothes be sparkling clean,
let your head be clean, wash yourself with water!
Attend to the little one who holds onto your hand,
let a wife delight in your embrace.
This is the true task of mankind.
The Epic of Gilgamesh x.iii.1–14
(trans. Kovacs)
The similarities to Circe are obvious, a female figure who meets the hero as he seeks the land of the dead and offers earthly pleasures, then helps the hero on his way to the Underworld. In Circe’s case, there is a second meeting, after Odysseus returns from Hades, underscoring her “liminal” (from the Latin, limes, “boundary”) presence and marking one of many parallels between Circe and both Calypso and the sea nymph Ino. Calypso and Ino are both liminal figures, living on the boundaries of human and divine, mortal and immortal; both help Odysseus on his journey to Scheria, one step closer to the fully human world of Ithaka.
Liminal figures can be useful to storytellers, drawing our attention to the limits that define human existence, prompting us to think about why the boundaries should be in one place rather than another. One of the ways we make meaning is to put limits around things, restricting their range of reference, so thinking about limits is thinking about meaning. Thus, we invest heroes like Achilles or Gilgamesh, both of whom have one divine and one mortal parent, with special meaning because they embody liminality and bring us closer to the boundaries—and thus the meaning—of human existence. Teiresias, the illustrious prophet in Odysseus’s immediate future who lives first as a man and then as a woman, carries the same mythic charge. Circe seems to be one example of a common and very old Mediterranean liminal figure. That she appears to Odysseus on the boundary between life and death signals that she will have some big work to do in his journey.
Further Reading
Anderson, W.S. 1958. “Calypso and Elysium.” Classical Journal 54, 2–11.
Nagler, M. 1996. “Dread Goddess Revisited.” In Schein, S. 1996. Reading the Odyssey. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 141–162.
Page, D. 1973. Folktales in Homer’s Odyssey, 51–69. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
134 ἄσμενοι ἐκ θανάτοιο: “Glad to have escaped death” (lit., “glad [to be] out of death”).
134 ὀλέσαντες: aor. act. ptc. > ὄλλυμι. Lines 133–34 are a repetition of 9.565–66 (the last lines of Book 9), at the end of the Cyclops episode.
137 ὀλοόφρονος Αἰήταο: genitives
138 ἐκγεγάτην: 3rd pers. dual pf. > ἐκγίγνομαι, borrowing the -την ending from the secondary act. endings.
139 τὴν: relative pronoun.
139 παῖδα: in apposition to the relative pronoun.
140 νηῒ κατηγαγόμεσθα: “we landed the ship.” νηῒ is a dative with compound verb and κατηγαγόμεσθα is an aorist middle.
140 σιωπῇ: dative of manner.
142 ἐκβάντες: “disembarking” > ἐκβαίνω
143 ἔδοντες: metaphorically. Lines 143–44 are a repetition of 9.75–76.
144 τέλεσ(ε): “brought about,” unaugmented 3rd sing. aor. > τελέω.
145 ἑλὼν: nom. sing. aor. ptc. > αἱρέω.
146 ἀνήϊον: impf. > ἄνειμι, see εἶμι.
147 εἴ … ἴδοιμι … πυθοίμην: “in the hope that I might….” εἴ + opt., optative of wish (Monro 312; Smyth 2354).
147 πυθοίμην: "hear," with an accusative direct object.
148 a repetition of line 97
149 ἐείσατο: aor. mid./dep. > εἴδομαι, "to appear"
151–52 μερμήριξα ... / ἐλθεῖν ἠδὲ πύθεσθαι: "I was scheming to...," μερμήριξα with complementary infinitives.
154 ἐλθόντ(ι): dat., agreeing, like φρονέοντι, with μοι. It is perhaps easiest to translate as an infinitive, like the infinitives in the following line: "(it seemed best for me) to go ... and give ..."
155 δόμεναι προέμεν τε: aor. infins. > δίδωμι and προίημι, complementing δοάσσατο. Understand ἑταίρους as the object of προέμεν.
155 πύθεσθαι: "(in order) to investigate," infinitive of purpose > πυνθάνομαι / πεύθομαι (Smyth 2008).
156 σχεδὸν: with the genitive νεὸς ( = νεώς).
156 ἦα: 1st sing. impf. > εἰμί
157 τίς … θεῶν: “one of the gods,” indefinite pronoun with partitive genitive.
157 ὀλοφύρατο: “took pity on,” with the accuastive.
158 ὅς: the antecedent is τις θεῶν.
158 ὑψίκερων: masc. acc. sing.
158 εἰς ὁδὸν αὐτὴν: “onto the path itself,” “right onto the path”
159 ἧκεν: 3rd sing. aor. > ἵημι
159 ὁ: the deer
159 κατήϊεν: 3rd sing. impf. > κάτειμι see εἶμι.
160 πιόμενος: dep. fut. ptc. > πίνω, expressing purpose (Monro 244).
160 ἔχεν: "oppressed" (Cunliffe ἔχω I.42).
161 κατ᾽ ἄκνηστιν μέσα νῶτα: “in the spine in the middle of his back”
162 ἀντικρὺ … ἐξεπέρησε: “passed right through to the other side”
163 κὰδ᾽ … ἔπεσ(ε): tmesis (separation of the prepostion and verb in a compound verb) > καταπίπτω, “to fall down”
163 μακών: aor. act. ptc. > μηκάομαι. The verb is regularly used of the bleating of sheep, but is also used of the sound made by wounded or dying animals (LSJ μηκάομαι).
163 ἀπὸ … ἔπτατο: tmesis, aor. > ἀποπέτομαι, “to fly away”
164 τῷ ... ἐμβαίνων: "putting my foot upon him," that is, Odysseus puts his foot on the deer to give himself leverage to pull out the spear.
165 τὸ: the spear, direct object of κατακλίνας
166 εἴασ(α): “I let go," 1st sing. aor. > ἐάω.
166 σπασάμην: “I plucked,” “I gathered.”
167 ὅσον τ᾽ ὄργυιαν: “as long as a fathom,” “six feet long”
167–68 πεῖσμα ... ἐϋστρεφὲς ἀμφοτέρωθεν / πλεξάμενος: “braiding a well-twisted rope from both ends.” Odysseus fashions a rope by braiding together pliant willow branches.
168 πελώρου: the deer (“beast”)
170 ἔγχει ἐρειδόμενος: “supporting myself with my spear.” Τhe middle voice is reflexive.
170 οὔ πως ἦεν: “it was not at all possible”
170 ἦεν 3rd sing. impf., impers. > εἰμί.
171 χειρὶ … ἑτέρῃ: "with either hand," or “with the other hand” (i.e., the one not holding the spear). Odysseus carries the huge deer draped around his neck (καταλοφάδεια) rather than flung over one shoulder (ἐπ᾽ ὤμου).
172 κὰδ᾽ … ἔβαλον: tmesis ( > καταβάλλω, “to put down”). The implied object is the deer.
173 παρασταδὸν: “standing beside”
174 καταδυσόμεθ(α): 1st pl. fut. > καταδύω, “to go down”
175 πρὶν … ἐπέλθῃ: “until ….” ἄν (κε) is expected with πρίν + subj., but is omitted in Homer (Monro 297; Smyth 2444b).
176 ὄφρ(α): “as long as …. (are) ...” Supply the verb "to be."
177 μνησόμεθα … τρυχώμεθα: hortatory subjs. μνησόμεθα is a short vowel subjunctive (Monro 80).
vocabulary
ἔνθεν: from here, from there
προτέρω: further, forwards
ἀχεύω (or ἀχέω), aor. 2 ἤκαχε, pf. pass. ἀκάχημαι: to be afflicted, be grieved
ἦτορ τό: the heart
ἄσμενος –η –ον: glad
ὄλλυμι ὀλῶ ὤλεσα (or ὠλόμην) ὀλώλεκα (or ὄλωλα) ––– –––: to demolish, kill; to lose, suffer the loss of (+ acc.); (mid.) to die, perish, be killed
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion
Αἰαίη: (adj.) Aeaean, sister of Aeetes (of Circe); (subst.) Aeaea, the island of Circe 135
ναίω – – – – –: to dwell, inhabit, be situated
Κίρκη –ης ἡ: Circe, the enchantress, daughter of Helius, sister of Aeētes, dwelling in the isle of Aeaea
ἐϋπλόκαμος –ον: fairhaired
αὐδήεις –εσσα –εν: speaking with human voice
αὐτοκασιγνήτη –ης ἡ: an own sister
ὀλοόφρων –ον: evil, baleful, disasterous, ferocious
Αἰήτης –ου ὁ: Aeetes, King of Colchis, brother of Circe and father of Medea, from whom Jason took the Golden Fleece
ἄμφω ἀμφοῖν: both (dual)
ἐκγίγνομαι (Ion. ἐκγίνομαι) ἐκγενήσομαι ἐκγέγαα: to be born of
φαεσίμβροτος –ον: bringing light to mortals
Πέρση ἡ: Perse
Ὠκεανός –οῦ ὁ: Oceanus
ἀκτή –ῆς ἡ: headland, foreland, promontory 140
κατάγω κατάξω κατήγαγον καταγήοχα κατῆγμαι κατήχθην: to lead or bring down; (of sailing) (mid.) to bring to land, port, put in (+ dat.)
σιωπή –ῆς ἡ: silence
ναύλοχος –ον: affording safe anchorage
λιμήν –ένος ὁ: harbor
ἡγεμονεύω ἡγεμονεύσω ἡγεμόνευσα: to lead, guide, conduct
ἐκβαίνω ἐκβήσομαι ἐκέβην ἐκβέβηκα ––– –––: step out
ἦμαρ –ατος τό: day
ὁμοῦ: together, at the same place or time
κάματος –ου ὁ: fatigue, exhaustion; effort
ἄλγος –ους τό: pain
ἔδω ἔδομαι ἤδα ἔδηδα ἐδήδοται ἠδέσθην: to eat
ἦμαρ –ατος τό: day
ἐϋπλόκαμος –ον: fair-haired
τελέω τελῶ or τελέσω ἐτέλεσα τετέλεκα τετέλεσμαι ἐτελέσθην: to finish, complete, carry out
ἠώς ἠοῦς ἡ: dawn; Dawn
ἔγχος –ους τό: spear, lance 145
φάσγανον –ου τό: a sword
καρπάλιμος –ον: swift
ἄνειμι: go up, reach; return
περιωπή –ῆς ἡ: a place commanding a wide view, outlook, observation post, hill
βροτός –οῦ ὁ: mortal
ἐνοπή –ῆς ἡ: crying, shouting, sound
σκοπιά –ᾶς ἡ: a lookout-place, a mountain-peak
παιπαλόεις –εσσα –εν: rugged
ἀνέρχομαι ἀνελεύσομαι/ἄνειμι ἀνῆλθον ἀνελήλυθα: to go up
εἴδομαι εἴσομαι εἰσάμην: to be visible, appear; to seem; to know, understand
καπνός –οῦ ὁ: smoke
χθών χθονός ἡ: the earth, ground
εὐρυόδεια (fem. only): with broad, open ways
Κίρκη –ης ἡ: Circe, the enchantress, daughter of Helius, sister of Aeētes, dwelling in the isle of Aeaea 150
μέγαρον –ου τό: a large room, hall, feast-hall
δρυμός –οῦ ὁ: wood, thicket, forest (neuter pl. δρυμά)
πυκ(ι)νός –ή –όν: thick, bushy, dense; prudent, wise, smart, shrewd
ὕλη –ης ἡ: woods, forest; firewood
μερμηρίζω μερμηρίξω ἐμερμήριξα: to ponder, wonder, stress over, debate, have it in mind
φρήν φρενός ἡ: diaphragm; heart, mind, wits
ἠδέ: and
αἶθοψ –οπος: flame-colored; scintillating, sparkling (of wine)
καπνός –οῦ ὁ: smoke
δοάσσατο (defective aor. subj): it seemed
κερδίων –ον: more profitable, better
θοός –ή –όν: swift
θίς θινός ὁ: shore, beach
δεῖπνον –ου τό: meal, supper 155
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion
προίημι προήσω προῆκα προεῖκα προεῖμαι προείθην: to send ahead; to shoot
σχεδόν: near; almost
κίω – – – – –: go, go away
ἀμφιέλισσα (fem. only): rowed on both sides
ὀλοφύρομαι ὀλοφυροῦμαι ὠλοφυράμην – – ὠλοφύρθην: to lament, wail; pity
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
ὑψίκερως –ων: high-horned
ἔλαφος –ου ὁ/ἡ: a deer
ποταμόνδε: to or towards a river
κάτειμι: go down
νομός –ου ὁ: place assigned for grazing, pasture
ὕλη –ης ἡ: woods, forest; firewood
μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself 160
μένος –ους τό: might
ἐκβαίνω ἐκβήσομαι ἐκέβην ἐκβέβηκα ––– –––: step out
ἄκνηστις –ιος ἡ: the spine
νῶτον –ου τό (or νῶτος ὁ): the back
πλήττω πλήξω ἔπληξα πέπληγα πέπληγμαι ἐπλήγην (–επλάγην): strike, smite
ἀντικρύ: straight through
δόρυ δόρατος τό: spear; timber, beam (of a ship)
χάλκεος –α –ον: of bronze
ἐκπεράω ἐκπεράσω ἐξεπέρασα ἐκπεπέρακα ––– –––: to pass over, cross; pass through, penetrate, pierce
κονία –ας ἡ: dust, a cloud of dust
μηκάομαι – – – – –: to bleat
πέτομαι πετήσομαι ἐπτόμην πέπτηκα πέπτημαι ἐπετάσθην: to fly
ἐμβαίνω ἐμβήσομαι ἐνέβην ἐμβέβηκα ––– –––: step upon, board
δόρυ δόρατος τό: spear; timber, beam (of a ship)
χάλκεος –α –ον: of bronze
ὠτειλή –ῆς ἡ: a wound
εἰρύω/ἐρύω ἐρύσω/ἐρύω εἴρυσα/ἔρυσα/ἔρυσσα εἴρυσα/ἔρυσα/ἔρυσσα –– –– εἰρύσθην: to pull, draw, drag; to guard 165
αὖθι: (right) there, at once
κατακλίνω κατακλινῶ κατέκλινα κατακέκλικα κατακέκλιμαι κατεκλίθην: to lay down
γαίη –ης ἡ: land, region, district
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet
σπάω σπάσω ἔσπασα ἔσπακα ἔσπασμαι ἐσπάσθην: to pull, pull out, gather
ῥώψ ῥωπός ἡ: a shrub, bush
λύγος –ου ἡ: willow twig
πεῖσμα –ατος τό: a ship's cable, cable, rope
ὄργυια –ας ἡ: the length of the outstretched arms, a fathom
ἐυστρεφής –ές: well-twisted
ἀμφοτέρωθεν: on both sides, in both directions
πλέκω πλέξω ἔπλεξα πέπλεχα/πέπλοχα πέπλεγμαι ἐπλέχθην: to plait, twine, twist, weave, braid
συνδέω συνδήσω συνέδησα συνδέδεκα συνδέδεμαι συνεδέθην: to bind together
πέλωρον –ου τό: a monster, prodigy
καταλοφάδεια: on the neck
μέλας μέλαινα μέλαν: black, dark, obscure
ἔγχος –ους τό: spear, lance 170
ἐρείδω ἐρείσω ἤρεισα ἤρεικα ἐρήρεισμαι ἠρείσθην: to cause to lean, prop; (mid. and pass.) to prop oneself, to lean on
ὦμος ὤμου ὁ: shoulder
θηρίον –ου τό: beast; wild beast
προπάροιθε: before, in front of
ἀνεγείρω ἀνεγερῶ ἀνήγειρα ἀνεγήγερκα ἀνεγήγερμαι ἀνηγέρθην: to wake up, rouse
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion
μειλίχιος [–α] –ον: gentle, mild, soothing
παρασταδόν: at one's side
πω: up to this time, yet
καταδύω καταδύσω καταδέδυκα/κατέδυν καταδέδυμαι καταδεδύθην: to sink; (of the sun) to set
ἄχομαι and ἄχνυμαι: to afflict, sadden, trouble, grieve
ᾍδης –ου ὁ: Hades 175
δόμος –ου ὁ: house, home
μόρσιμος –ον: appointed by fate, destined
ἦμαρ –ατος τό: day
ἐπέρχομαι ἔπειμι ἐπῆλθον ἐπελήλυθα ––– –––: to approach, arrive; to encounter, come up against, attack
ἄγε: come! come on! well!
ὄφρα: while; until; so that; ὄφρα … τόφρα, while … for so long
θοός –ή –όν: swift
βρῶσις –εως ἡ: meat
πόσις –ιος/–εως ὁ: husband, spouse, mate
βρώμη –ης ἡ: food
τρύχω τρύξω ἔτρυξα τέτρυχα τέτρυγμαι ἐτρύχθην: to wear out, waste, consume
λιμός –οῦ ὁ/ἡ: hunger